The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Has anyone had success making a DIY vacuum platter/mat? I'm cutting poly and I'm having a hell of a time keeping my blanks flat. The batch I got made are a little warped, and instead of throwing 30+ in the garbage, I'd like to solve this problem since plastic is never usually totally flat anyway. I'...

Is PVC Type 1 sheet the material that people are referring to when they say they're cutting PVC, but not pressed blanks or polycarbonate?

I found some old threads about DIY advance balls, I think markrob said he tried a glass bead, and someone else tried a bearing. Has anyone had any luck with this? I'm trying to find a good solution for this, because using a diamond with makrolon blanks and no vacuum hold-down is getting a bit hard. ...

I have a homebrew lathe, and right now I'm using a shop-vac, connected to a plastic jar, and then a tube that goes to another copper tube to pick up chip. My question, do I really need a chip jar? I'm only cutting plastic.. is there any reason that the shop-vac canister couldn't be the "chip jar"?

To muddy the waters further, I posed this question to bayer: Is it true that Makrolon GP, black L10, actually has a thin clear layer on the surface of each side? Reply: Makrolon GP is an monolithic extruded polycarbonate sheet that does not have a cap layer- The color is part of the extrusion proces...

2208 records does an awesome job, and can do all sorts if different things:

http://2208records.blogspot.com/?m=1

I'm preparing my DIY lathe for the Caruso head, and I'd like to use the 18mm cylinder mounting. Does anyone have any pictures of a Neumann lathe suspension box, where this 18mm cylinder goes in? I'm trying to design a bracket for my lathe, and am interested in seeing how it SHOULD look. Does it have...

Yup, I've been cutting Makrolon and Lexan with one of opcode66's diamonds. I just got it, but I figure I've probably cut maybe an hour so far. No problems so far.

Has anyone here had any experience cutting acrylic with a diamond? I have a bunch of it but I'm afraid to try it, so I've just been using polycarbonate.

I got one of the diamond presto styluses from Opcode for my homebrew lathe with a 1C, and some of his blanks. I have never used a diamond before, but between his instruction sheet and email support, I'm getting great sounding cuts! Highly recommended. They seem pretty robust to user error (I've only...

I'm still looking if anyone knows of someone selling.

Yah, I think I'm going to do that. The problem is that my home brew lathe doesn't really have a good way to attach a dashpot. But I think I'm going to find a way because I don't want to risk it.

I know when I've tried cutting acrylic with a sapphire I've never had any problems with oscillation... which leads me to believe that the same would hold true for a diamond cutting poly. Maybe even be less of a problem because the diamond would cut better than a sapphire with the burnishing facets i...

Maybe I'll widen this question a bit.. who has experience cutting with a diamond on polycarbonate on ANY lathe without a dashpot? If there's no oscillations, is there anything else to really worry about?

I ran across this item:
http://www.amazon.com/Airpot-2KS240S-Stroke-Dashpot-Snubber/dp/B002YK4CG2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384893618&sr=8-2&keywords=airpot+snubber

Would this be good to replace the spring/dashpot arrangement on a Presto type lathe?

Has anyone done any cutting with a Presto 1C/D using a diamond (on polycarbonate) without a dashpot? I know you'd probably have to be very careful to watch for oscillations.... does anyone have any experience with this?

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my presto 1C to a Grampian or similar mono cutter. Does anyone have a lead on one for sale?

Thanks guys. A fellow forum member actually just hooked me up.

I'm also looking for a long-shank adapter.. I contacted Apollo but they said they don't have any in stock and aren't planning on making any more.

Is there anyone here making these? I could sure use one.

Does anyone have a source for buying a dashpot for a Presto 1C? I have no machining skills or equipment. Could be a real presto one, or a custom built one... I don't care. I just want something to dampen it a bit.

Thanks!